A 4th of July with the West Coast Misfits!
by L1701E
Summary: The American members of the West Coast Misfits tell their foreign teammates about the meaning of the 4th of July! RR Please!


**A 4th of July with the West Coast Misfits!**

**Hey folks! L1701E here! Since it is the Fourth of July, I thought it'd be good to do a special story with it starring the nation's premier California-based super-team, the West Coast Misfits! I thought it'd be appropriate since several of the kids in the team come from other countries (And one's even from another dimension!). Basically, they learn why this day is so important to Americans. **

**Disclaimer: All characters either belong to me, Marvel Comics, or Sunbow Entertainment. **

**Malibu**** Base**

Malibu Base is a military base located not too far from the city of Malibu, California. It was home to the Special Counter-Terrorist Group Gamma, aka the Malibu Joes. The Malibu Joes were an independent offshoot of the GI Joe team. Malibu Base was also home to the West Coast Misfits, a team of teenage mutants trained to use their powers for the good of mankind. The West Coast Misfits were a very different super-team. A lot of their members were from different ethnic and racial origins, and they even had a member from another dimension! The members also had different back stories. One of them was even a member of the X-Men at one point! Our story starts when several members of the team were returning to the base…

"Man, the Joes put out a lot of recycling." Longshot said as he drove the California Cruiser into the base. Inside the truck with him were Toshiro Yashida, Rahne Sinclair, Theresa Rourke, Thomas Sharpe, and Randy Gomez, the West Coast Misfit members known respectively as Sunfire, Wolfsbane, Siryn, Chilljaw, and Rictor. Longshot was a warrior/stuntman from another dimension who had a skill with daggers and throwing knives, could alter probability and had superhuman agility. Sunfire was a Japanese kid who could cover his body in a field of fiery plasma, granting flight. He could also fire flaming solar blasts at enemies. Wolfsbane was a Scottish girl who can safely say she's seen the X-Men/Misfit feud from both sides. A former X-Man, Rahne was a mutant lycanthrope. Siryn was a second-generation mutant from Ireland who led the team and also had the power to generate sonic vibrations which often took the form of a sonic scream. Chilljaw was an Australian mutant who had a shark-like mutation, gifting him with the ability to breathe air and water, great strength, as well as the ability to spit freezing cold water. Rictor, a Mexican mutant who went by a false name, had the power to generate low-frequency sonic waves from his hands, which allowed him to cause earthquakes or fire a powerful punch.

"Half of it is Tommy!" Rictor laughed. "We all know how much he eats, man!" The kids all looked at Tommy, who was munching on a hamburger.

"What? What are you all lookin' at, mates?" Tommy blinked.

"Uhm…Nothing, Tommy." Rahne snickered. "Nothing at all."

"Hey, look at that!" Theresa pointed at the front of the base. Malibu Joes left and right were raising up American Flags and putting up red, white, and blue bunting everywhere. "What is going on here?"

"Looks like they are preparing for a holiday to me." Longshot blinked. They noticed the others helping out. "C'mon. Let's park this thing and find out what's going on." The kids parked the car and walked to the others.

"What's going on here?" Tommy asked Terrell.

"We're celebrating the Fourth of July, man!" Velocity grinned.

"Fourth of July?" Toshiro asked. "What's so special about this day?"

"It's the day when America was born." Dazzler laughed as she put up some bunting.

"I don't really understand."

"On this day in 1776, America declared independence from Great Britain." Ali Blaire explained. "You see, before America was the country that it is today, it was just 13 colonies: New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia."

"Georgia? Georgia was a colony? I didn't know that." Terrell blinked. "I knew that New York and New England were colonies, but I had no idea _Georgia_ was a colony."

"Yes, it was." Ali nodded.

"So how did those thirteen colonies become America?" Rahne asked. The foreign members of the West Coast Misfits shot interested looks at the Farrah-haired mutant.

"Well…" Ali said. "There were a lot of reasons, but the main one was taxes."

"So people have gotten mad over taxes. No surprise. You can't stand them!" X23 chuckled as she and Ace walked up to the group.

"Hey guys. I was just telling these guys why we celebrate the 4th of July." Ali smiled.

"Oh yeah, taxation without representation. That really infuriated the colony natives." Ace laughed. "You see, the colonists answered to the mother country, England. Where my uncle Austin comes from. Anyway, England needed money, and they decided to tax the colonists' goods, like sugar, paper, stamps, and tea. This infuriated the colonists, who wanted to right to protest it."

"What about this thing I saw a local group re-enact in the park called the Boston Tea Party?" Longshot asked, scratching his head.

"The Thunderbolt can explain that, considering that he _is_ a Boston boy." Kyle Wildfire bellowed. He hovered down in an electrical aura. "The Thunderbolt was busy charging up a generator for a light show Fusebox has got cookin' up for later."

"Okay Kyle, tell them about the Boston Tea Party." Ali laughed.

"Knowing the Blunderbolt, he thinks the Boston Tea Party is an event done at doll conventions in his hometown." X23 laughed. Kyle glared at the clone.

"Shut your jabroni mouth, you cheap Wolverine clone! Anyway, the Boston Tea Party was an act of protest done by natives of my state, Massachusetts. A bunch of colonists dressed up like Mohawks…"

"Oh look, a bunch of bad hairstyles attacked!" Athena interrupted, laughing.

"**ANYWAY**, A group of colonists dressed up like Mohawks, a Native American _tribe_, and boarded a ship carrying boxes of English tea. What they did was simple, yet sent a big message: They took the tea, and dumped it into the waters of Boston Harbor. It was a protest against the tea tax, which was one of the steeper of the many taxes the Brits levied on us."

"I can imagine the English were very displeased." Theresa laughed.

"No kidding. They sent troops into Boston Harbor to blockade the city." Kyle added. "Didn't stop us Boston natives."

"Why did they have to dress up like Native Americans?" John Proudstar groaned as he placed a woofer down.

"Because back then they didn't think too highly of Native Americans." Kyle shrugged.

"Yeah well, think about this Kyle: **My** ancestors populated this country before **your** ancestors did." John said simply. "Your ancestors helped take my ancestors' lands away and forced them into reservations!"

"That's **after** this, you stupid jabroni!" Kyle snapped.

"Guys, can we talk about that later?" Ali tried to change the subject. John and Kyle nodded. "Anyway, during that time, when the colonists were growing tired and angry wit Britain's rule, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which officially signified that the 13 colonies, now known as the United States of America, were going solo."

"Wow." Rahne blinked. "So, how did England react?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ENGLAND THOUGHT!!!"

"King George III, the King of England at that time, was _furious!_" Terrell laughed. "It led to the Revolutionary War."

"Which we won with help from France." Ali added.

"I find it ironic." Ace chuckled. "Back then, without the French, we would still be under England's thumb. Nowadays, we often make fun of the French and say things like they're cowards and stuff."

"Now that you think about it, that _is_ ironic." Athena blinked.

"Now let's talk about Manifest Destiny." John said. "After America gained its independence, it decided to expand. So it did. At the expense of my people, with unfair treaties and screwjobs and wars and…" John started ranting.

"John tends to celebrate this day with a grain of salt." Athena explained.

"Kind of like Darkstar tends to look on last Halloween with a grain of salt. **(1)**" Ace nodded.

**(1) - See "Halloween Hijinks"**

"Uhm, John…The Fourth of July is meant to celebrate the birth of a nation where all people can live and work together."

"Not to mention enjoy some great barbecue!" Jack added as he walked up. "I totally got some tofu burgers on the grill."

"Oh NO!" Athena snapped. "None of that tofu garbage! This is a _holiday!_ We eat _real_ food on a holiday!"

"Hey, I don't like eating animals!" Jack exclaimed.

"The rest of us have to eat too, pal!" Athena snapped.

"C'mon you two, I'm sure there's some real meat on the grill too." Ace prevented the two from tearing into each other. "Besides, Firestorm's working the grill." They heard a huge FWOOSH and a fireball come up complete with cackling.

"**_WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!_**"

"And **_he's_** in charge of fireworks tonight?" Athena groaned. "Heaven help us all."

"Oh boy! I love barbecues!" Tommy grinned as the West Coast Misfits walked off towards the barbecue. "I am kinda hungry…"

"**Hungry?!** Earlier today, you shattered the world record for hot dog eating and you're **_hungry?!_**"

"What can I say? The Fourth of July has become my favorite tradition." Tommy grinned.

"For the history, man?" Rictor asked.

"For the barbecues!"

**Happy (Belated) 4th of July!**


End file.
